TAO-Pilipinas, with the help of Terre des hommes-Germany (Tdh-G), Christian Aid (CA), and Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc. (PMPI), selected 40 families to benefit from the sustainable shelter assistance project. The beneficiaries were chosen from a shortlist of families from Manicani Island who haven’t received any shelter assistance from other organizations or institutions. They were evaluated and validated by a multi-sectoral assessment committee on the island.

Manicani Island located in Guiuan, Eastern Samar was an icon of devastation after Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) made its landfall on the island on the 8th of November, 2013. TAO-Pilipinas, along with seven Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) from different sectors specifically, coastal resource management; renewable energy, water resources and communications; infrastructures (shelter and evacuation centers); integrative health; sustainable agriculture and land management; advocacy, networking, and capacity-building; and community-based disaster risk reduction and management (CBDRRM) were invited to work under Project Pagbangon by Philippine Misereor Partnership, Inc. (PMPI).

Project Pagbangon focuses on rehabilitating and developing the partner communities in Panay and Eastern Samar who were survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda. TAO-Pilipinas, as the sole partner of PMPI for the Infrastructure Component was assigned to design and construct 120 sustainable shelters (40 in Manicani Island and 80 in Homonhon Island) and 12 evacuation centers (4 in Manicani Island and 8 for Homonhon Island) for twelve barangays not only for Manicani Island but also for Homonhon Island, another island in Guiuan, Eastern Samar affected by Super Typhoon Yolanda. The sustainable shelter assistance in Manicani Island was completed with the help of Terre des hommes-Germany (Tdh-G), Christian Aid (CA), and PMPI.

Mrs. Emma Laginan’s new sustainable shelter

The completed shelter of , Mr. Jorge Abellano Sr., a beneficiary of the project

Category 5 Typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda) hit an impact area now known as “Yolanda Corridor” covering 6 regions , 14 province and 171 cities and municipalities in November 2013. A total of 14M people are affected, 3.98M people are displaced and 1.13M houses are damaged, the biggest devastation to hit the Philippines.

House being completed in Bingawan, Iloilo

Typical starter house in Bingawan, Iloilo

The northern portion of Panay, Eastern Samar and Leyte are the hardest hit in the Visayas. Fondation de France under its Solidarite Philippines 2013: Haiyan – Post Reconstruction Project, collected 2M euros to help the victims. The project aims to support shelter construction and economic projects in the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan and Eastern Samar. Six projects implemented by French and Philippine NGOs are located in nine (9)

cities and municipalities in Northern Panay namely: Passi, Bingawan, San Enrique implemented by Chameleon; Ajuy implemented by Coup de Pouche a Barrido; Estancia, Carles and Concepcion implemented by Iloilo Code; Sigma implemented by Sigmahanon Development Foundation Inc.; , Altavas implemented by Enfants du Mekong; Roxas implemented by Iloilo People’s Habitat Foundation Inc.; and one (1) municipality in Eastern Samar namely: Lawaan implemented by PHILDRRA. The project targets to benefit about 600 households with core shelter and three (3) rural health units with solar panels for emergency lighting, solar fan and refrigeration system. The project started in April 2014 and is programmed to end in October 2015.

The last year and a half, HSE has been doing a Pilot and Demonstration Activity (PDA) funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Sitio Pulo, Tanza, Navotas. The objective of the project is to come up with innovative design and planning solutions to support the development of disaster-resilient communities in flood prone areas. Out of this project, HSE together with the SAMASAISIP, the people’s organization in the community were able to build a bamboo bridge that connected the island to the Navotas mainland, retrofit the community’s old wooden bridge, and build two community facilities namely the livelihood center and multipurpose center. A knowledge sharing forum was hosted by ADB last April. For more information about the forum, please follow this link. For more information about the Pilot and Demonstration Activity Project, please download the project completion report here.

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